The Fans Speak: Conan vs. Leno
by Laura Carroll January 14, 2010“Hello, my name is Conan O’Brien, and I will soon be available for children’s parties.”
While Conan O’Brien was his usual funny-self, poking fun at the possible end to his career in his opening monologue on January 12th, consumers find nothing funny about NBC’s decision making. Moving his late-night time slot back to 12:05 ET, NBC wants to make room for Jay Leno at 11:35 ET after a disappointing shot at capturing prime-time ratings. Even less funny, Conan says that the decision will destroy the “greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting”. Whether you agree with NBC’s decision or Conan’s statement, let social media speak for itself.
Consumers have been tweeting away, making up a whopping 69% of conversation about Conan O’Brien in the past week. What are their reactions to the news? On the most active day in recent months, January 12th, consumers rallied in support of Conan. Hash tags were developed on Twitter to show support for Conan and also for Jay Leno, however, #teamconan made up 99% of the conversation. A miserable showing by Leno’s fans and might indicate that NBC might want to re-think moving The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, before it’s too late. I wonder what Comcast would say about this?
Join the conversation- Who do you prefer: Conan or Leno? Do you think Jeff Zucker and company made the right decisions with Leno? Does the fiasco make NBCU a less attractive purchase for Comcast?
*DISCLAIMER: Collective Intellect was not commissioned by any affiliated parties in this post. The supporting data was created using CI’s next generation real time social analytics solutions and is analyzed by CI staff.